Fate
by Boba Addict
Summary: It's been eight months since the battle with Pitch, with Jack officially joining the Guardians. However, when the jealous Old Man Winter decides to strike back at Jack for what he has done to him with the help of Father Time's time travel dust, the Guardians have a new mission: to protect Jack from having his entire fate changed.
1. Prologue

**Yeah, so I deleted my first Rise of the Guardians fic, and I'm not planning on putting it back up unless someone tells me otherwise (I deleted it because it suddenly didn't seem right). Anyway, I scouted out a plot bunny, and I am now teeming with ideas. So please check this out and tell me what you think! :D**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the Guardians. Putting so many disclaimers has become a regular basis for me.**

It was a cool December evening in the small town of Burgess, with many adults strolling down the streets, either chatting with friends they had coincidentally ran into or eager to go home to see their families after a long day at work.

One particular teenager, looking to be around the age of seventeen or eighteen, stood by the statue in the center of the town, playing with the shepherd's staff he carried around with him. Nonchalantly twirling the crooked wooden stick in his right hand, his left hand was jammed in the pocket of his blue hoodie, which was tinted with frost on the collar. The slight breeze was blowing, leaving his messy, snow-white hair softly swaying. His bare feet were planted firmly on the barren ground, one leg crossed over the other. His face was contorted into one of contemplation, observing his surroundings. He eventually decided that the temperature was not low enough, and with a simple wave of his staff, snow began to gently descend.

Due to the drop from cool to cold, adults hurried to find warmth in shelter, while kids whooped and started playing in the snow and catching snowflakes in their mouth. The ones who ran by the teenager responsible for the new weather waved at him happily, calling out, "Jack Frost!" Jack, although being slightly surprised at how famous he was with the younger residents of the town (He suspected that Jamie's belief in him must have set off a chain reaction), gave a small wave back to each one. A triumphant smirk dominated his face, as he was proud of himself for giving such joy to children. Oh, if only Bunnymund could see him now.

The wind picked up and Jack let it pick him up off the ground. He flew over to one particular house and landed on a windowsill on the second floor. As he had expected, the window immediately swung open, revealing an eleven-year-old boy inside, clad in pajamas and a toothy grin.

"I knew you'd come, considering it suddenly started snowing," he remarked, as he let the older boy come in.

Hopping down to the floor, Jack replied back jokingly, "You said you wanted a snow day, Jamie, so I gave you one. I only came here to get my thanks."

"And just when exactly did I say I wanted snow?"

"Are you saying that you didn't?"

"No, that's not what I meant."

"Good, now zip it before I freeze your lips shut."

Despite knowing that Jack was kidding, Jamie subtly shuddered at the thought of being unable to separate his lips. "I think I'd live without that happening."

"JACKIE!"

Both boys looked toward Jamie's bedroom door, now wide open, with a certain little, blonde, four-year-old girl's hand resting on the doorknob. She sprinted to Jack, jumped up, and wrapped his arms around his neck. Jack, hugging her back, whispered to Jamie quietly, "I still don't get how she's able to jump so high without having superhuman powers or something." His arms trailed to the girl's waist, and he attempted to pry her off of him. "What's even more unbelievable is how she clings to everyone like this."

Jamie chuckled lightly. "Try living with her everyday. She does it to everybody she likes."

Jack, finally succeeding into getting Sophie to let go of him, set her down carefully. She ran out of the room and downstairs, about to blab to her and Jamie's mom that Jack Frost was here to visit again. Not that the grown-up would actually believe her.

Jamie turned back to Jack. "So what brings you here?"

Jack merely shrugged. "It's December now, and I hadn't made it snow here yet this year. The weathermen on TV would probably be saying how it's the first time in 300 years that Burgess didn't have any snow during the winter. Can't let that happen."

Jamie crossed his arms, unconvinced. "Did you really come here for the weathermen like you said you did, or were you just bored?"

Jack gave a mock gasp. "Why, Jamie, I'm insulted. I would never mess with the weather out of plain boredom."

Jamie rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right! My mom says that it actually snowed once on the Fourth of July before I was even born! I obviously didn't know it back then, but that had something to do with you, didn't it?"

Jack raised his arms in defense and fake innocence. "I'm sorry, but I don't seem to remember anything like that happening." Lies. He _totally _remembered that year. Just like Jamie had accused him of, he had done it because he had nothing better to do. Plus, he wanted to see everyone's reactions to the strange weather phenomenon that he had created, especially the meteorologists who were all cracking their brains trying to explain the logic behind it. And for extra effect, he made it happen on none other than Independence Day. And for even more extra effect, he made it happen during the fireworks. He still laughs about it from time to time.

Jamie frowned, clearly knowing that Jack was lying, but dropped the subject. "You know, Sophie's birthday is coming up in a week or two. I would invite you, but then my mom would be all confused to why there's an extra slice of cake sitting on the dining table eating itself."

Jack waved a hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it. I might come by Burgess the previous day and sneak into her bedroom at midnight so I could be the first one to wish her a happy birthday. I might even try and sneak one of Bunny's Easter eggs as a gift to her."

"Bunny wouldn't like losing one of his eggs."

"So? He'll be totally fine with it once I explain that it was for Sophie. He kinda has reserved a soft spot for her ever since she accidentally ended up in his warren."

Jamie looked surprised. "She was in the warren once?"

Jack, realizing that Jamie was never informed of Sophie's own fantasy adventure in Bunnymund's homeland, just said, "I'll tell you the story the next time I see you. I kinda have to go now. Spreading winter and all of that junk."

Jamie nodded understandingly and waved. "Bye."

* * *

In a winter palace made completely out of ice far off in the clouds, an old man growled in a low, menacing tone as he peered into his snow globe, which was creating pictures for him in order to see what was going down back in the human world. This old man was Old Man Winter. He saw the white-haired teenage winter spirit leave a small boy's house through the bedroom window, and now he was simply floating in the sky, courtesy of the wind, laughing to himself as he called out more snow. This old man absolutely _despised_ Jack, and for many reasons.

His first reason was at how...how _young _Jack was. This old man would never admit it to himself, but he was old. In fact, so old, that he looked older than Santa (He hated North too). It wasn't fair how Jack died young in his past life and the Man in the Moon decided to keep him looking as young as a brand new Cadillac, even when he was already 318 years old.

His second reason was because Jack had the same occupation as him: to spread winter throughout the world. Due to Jack's eagerness to bring snow and cold wherever he went, Old Man Winter had been sitting in his palace with _nothing _to do, because Jack's extreme quickness would always leave him out of the fray to spread the winter season. This irked him to no end, even more so because all the children were having such _fun _in the snow that Jack brought. The older spirit's goal with snow was to cause blizzards every year in every town imaginable, so every human out there would be housed in for all three months of winter, too afraid to leave the safety and comfort of their homes. But Jack's objective with winter was much different, and it left Old Man Winter twitching at the very thought of people enjoying the coldest season of the year.

His third and final reason had to do with the other Guardians. Despite his hatred for North, Winter had always dreamed of becoming one with them. He yearned for their superiority among the other spirits and sprites. However, eight months ago on that time around Easter, Jack came into the picture and shattered that dream. Winter became angrier than before; angry at himself for not making a move sooner, angry at the Guardians for accepting Jack in the first place, and angry at the Man in the Moon for choosing Jack to be the new Guardian. But most of all, he was furious with Jack for taking away his chance to become the winter spirit Guardian. The fuel was added to the fire once he took in the fact that Jack originally didn't want to become a Guardian in the first place, while he himself had been wanting the spot ever since the first ice age.

Winter stood up from his giant chair and strolled over to a window on the side. He dispersed all the clouds blocking out his view and glanced down at Earth. He scowled in scorn when he could just barely make out sheer whiteness rapidly spreading across the North American continent, knowing it was Jack's doing. He paced back to his chair and sunk down in it. If only there was a way to change Jack's fate so he was the one who had nothing to do all year round...

An evil smile sprouted on to Winter's lips as a plan finally formulated itself in his mind. All Guardians were chosen by the Man in the Moon because of their heroic acts in their previous lives. If he could figure out what Jack did to make himself so special, he might just know how to change Jack's fate so he was the one at the bottom of the sprite class.

The smile never left Winter's face as he sneered quietly to himself, "Time to pay Father Time a visit..."

**PROLOGUE IS COMPLETED, YAY. I'm uploading this along with another brand new Rise of the Guardians fanfic that I like to call Powerless Guardian, so I would greatly appreciate it if you guys would also check that one out. I'm sure that I'll have fun updating both stories, and there's no telling which one will be updated faster and which one will be finished first (I'm a very balanced person [That was sarcasm, by the way]. Just check my profile to see all the past stories that I've completed [Again, sarcasm].)**

**And don't forget to review. I appreciate faves and alerts, but I don't want to see like 25 faves, 20 alerts, and 0 reviews.**

**Until then, BOBA OUT.**


	2. Plot

**HOLY CRAP 13 FAVES 23 ALERTS AND 4 REVIEWS...**

**...Ah well, at least some people reviewed. I'm happy with all the faves and follows though. :D**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the Guardians or any of the characters associated with it (I want Jack Frost though).**

Old Man Winter looked on to see if the coast was clear. Once he was positively sure it was, he tiptoed quietly into Father Time's office, thinking scornfully, _Old Father Time must be taking another one of those silly bubble baths of his again._

It didn't take long for him to find what he was looking for in the time spirit's office, and with an evil chuckle, Winter left, as quietly as he had come in.

* * *

"Come on, yetis! Let's get to work!" North barked. "Christmas is about to come! Gifts must be ready by then!"

One particular yeti, Phil, groaned in exhaustion as he tried to paint his toy trains even faster.

"Phil! You are painting messily! Children do not want sloppy painting!" North shouted disapprovingly.

Phil grumbled in response and slowed down to his original pace.

The elves were sneaking into the kitchen and stealing (more like attempting to steal) cookies once more. They all struggled to pile on top of each other in order to reach the counter where the cookie jar stood. One particular elf at the top finally managed to climb on to the counter, cackling as he opened the cookie jar lid.

North, whistling a tune and craving a candy cane, strolled into the kitchen, only to be greeted by the sight of an elf munching greedily on a cookie and many other elves shrieking and waving their fists at him.

Taking in the sight, North sighed and put a hand to his face. "What am I going to do with you all..."

"You could always throw them out."

North turned and saw a smirking Jack standing in the kitchen doorway. He greeted him warmly, "Ah, Jack. Long time no see, no? Are you spreading mischief or snow now?"

"Um, I'd say about 80% snow, 20% mischief," Jack joked, then turning back to the elves. Seriously though, I don't get why you keep all these little guys."

"They can be useful at times as my test subjects for my toys."

Jack paused at this. "So if you made a machine gun, and you wanted to test out if it worked or not, you would shoot your elves?"

"I am Santa, not a gunmaker. So no," North replied flatly.

Jack put a hand up. "Hey, just saying."

"I am happy to see you, but why are you visiting around this time of year?"

"Oh, right. You know Sophie, Jamie's little sister?" North nodded. "Yeah, well, her birthday's about a week before Christmas, and when I was up in New York City spreading snow, I thought that it'd be nice if all the Guardians could give her presents."

"I normally would oblige, Jack, but December is the month where I cannot take any breaks any longer than 5 minutes."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that. All I'm asking for is a spare toy. I'll deliver it to Sophie for you."

North stroked his beard. "Hmm... I remember many years back, Phil made a stuffed bunny. I did not like it because the mouth was lopsided, so I never gave any child that toy. I never threw it away, and I am sure Sophie is the type of girl to enjoy a stuffed animal, no matter how ugly it looks."

Jack shrugged. "Okay, at least that's something. Can you go get it?"

"Of course. Wait here, and do not do anything to my elves," North instructed, leaving the kitchen.

Jack frowned; he was in the mood to freeze two or three of those Christmas troublemakers. Oh well. He sat on the counter, swinging his thin legs back and forth, waiting for North to come back with a bunny in his hand.

Jack heard footsteps hurriedly approaching and stopping at the entrance to the kitchen. He looked up, expecting to see North with Sophie's gift. However, what he saw took him by surprise. A man, looking to be around the age of 30, dressed in a clock-patterned bathroom robe and slippers, was panting in the doorway, trying to catch his breath. When he looked up, he seemed equally confused to see Jack sitting on the counter. "Where's North?" he asked the younger spirit.

Jack answered, "Busy with Christmas. Why the heck are you here?"

"Old Man-"

"Jack! I have found the bunny!" North cheerfully came back into the kitchen, but stopped once he saw the newcomer. "Why, Tony! I did not that you were planning on visiting as well."

Father Time, or Tony, as North called him, quickly explained, "As happy as I am to see you, North, I'm not here for a friend reunion. There's trouble brewing."

"Is it Pitch?" was North's immediate question. "Has he come back and attacked you?"

Tony shook his head. "No, it's Old Man Winter. He snuck into my office earlier today and stole my time traveling dust while I was enjoying my bubble bath."

"Is that why the only thing you're wearing is a bathrobe?" Jack deadpanned. "And if he stole your stuff without you noticing, then how do you know he was the one who stole it?"

"Quiet, you. And it's because I have a GPS that connects to my dust; I was always paranoid that something like this would happen. And once I found out where it was and who it was with, I immediately recognized the thief to be Winter."

Jack raised an eyebrow. A GPS? He was expecting Tony's answer to be more along the lines of "I-can-sense-it-if-someone-steals-my-dust."

"But, Tony, you have more dust, no? This is no big deal. And there is nothing we can do about your stolen possession," North reasoned.

"No!" Tony waved his arms frantically. "When I tracked Winter down, I saw him using it to go back to the year of 1712! I just know that the canny brute is plotting something, and I bet it has to do with changing history!"

Jack couldn't help but notice that 1712 was the year he became Jack Frost, but he refused to make any comment about that, knowing that now wasn't the best time.

"What?!" North roared, dropping the bunny he was still holding on to. "That little... This is exact reason why I said he had no potential to become Guardian!"

"Whoa, whoa, let's rewind here for a bit," Jack spoke up, not getting what North was saying. "I know Winter is that really old winter spirit, but what do you mean that he has no potential to become a Guardian?"

"Jack, a long time ago, before you were even born as human, Winter requested to become one of us Guardians," North began to explain. "We turned him down, because he was – and still is – known to make winter a miserable time of year, which is clearly not worthy of Guardian. Not to mention that he created both ice ages."

A terrible gut feeling sprouted in Jack, but he didn't show it. He felt as if he had yet to put two and two together...

"I will go call the other Guardians," North announced. "Tony, stay in kitchen, and make sure Jack does not hurt my elves."

Jack, momentarily forgetting his hidden distress, exclaimed, "Really, how come you don't trust me with your stupid elves?!"

He was ignored, however, and North went to the globe room to summon over Bunnymund, Tooth, and Sandy.

It didn't take long for all three of the other Guardians to arrive, and they gathered in the globe room, where North, Jack, and Tony were waiting.

"So what's this all about?" Bunnymund demanded to know. "Easter may not be for anotha' four months, but I still have work to do, ya know."

Tony gave a brief overview on what he had informed North and Jack. "Winter's unpredictable," he concluded. "Whatever he's planning on doing, it isn't good."

Silence.

"Jack, are you okay?" Tooth asked after a while, concerned for her friend. She had noticed him staring off into space throughout Tony's explanation.

Jack snapped back down to Earth, and said hurriedly, "Oh yeah, I'm fine..."

His comrades gave him skeptical looks.

"Okay, I just think that something doesn't seem right," Jack admitted in defeat. "The year 1712 was the exact year I died and became a winter spirit."

Bunnymund scoffed. "That's it? Mate, we've got bigger problems on our paws. We don't have time to be noticin' year coincidences."

"Bunny, wait," North interrupted. "Maybe it is not coincidence after all."

Sandy created the sand image of a question mark.

"Think about it. Why did Winter decide to go back to 1712 out of all the years he could have journeyed back to? He has no good reason to go back to colonial times, unless..." North's eyes widened. "Unless if he is after Jack."

Jack was speechless for a moment. "But- But I've never done anything to him! Why would he want to go and take whatever anger he has out on me?!"

"Winter is a man who doesn't need a reason to do unjust things," Tony replied grimly. "There's only one thing we can do right now. Jack, you're going to have to go after him."

Jack looked surprised. "Not that I'm complaining or anything... But why me?"

"If Winter really is trying to get you, then he most likely went off to find your past human self. You know yourself better than Winter knows you, so you know where to find you. On the other hand, unless if Winter is really lucky, he will have to search for you. Find your human self before Winter does, Jack. Both your mortal and immortal lives are on the line now."

Tony reached into his robe pocket and pulled out a spare bag of time traveling dust, and put it in Jack's hand.

"We will all be here when you return," North promised. "This is your personal mission."

"And ya betta' not fail, mate," Bunnymund continued crossly, folding his arms. "Or then ya would be askin' for a boomerang in the face."

Jack smirked. "Is the kangaroo really wishing me luck right now?"

"I am not," Bunnymund said stubbornly. "I just prefer ya over Winter, that's all."

Tooth smiled and waved. "Bye, Jack. And make sure Winter doesn't dirty up your teeth. I would hate to see such pretty teeth as yours ruined."

"Uh, yeah," Jack agreed, with a weird look on his face. "I seriously doubt that would happen, but okay."

Sandy simply gave him a small smile.

Jack smiled back, before opening the bag and taking a small pinch of dust. "To 1712," he breathed out, and flicked the dust out of his fingers, causing it to open up a wormhole. Right before stepping into the portal, Jack added, "I'll be back soon, guys. I'll be fine."

And with that, he disappeared.

After a moment of silence, Bunnymund turned to North. "If he fails, then there's a chance that Jack Frost would never exist again, isn't there?" He didn't wait for an answer before saying, "Wouldn't want that to happen..."

North smiled softly. "This is Jack we are talking about. Jack is not one to fail."

**I like how the ending of this chapter turned out, but the beginning doesn't impress me as much. Oh well, it'll have to do.**

**On another note, when I woke up this morning, 45 MESSAGES FLOWED INTO MY INBOX. To be specific, one was actually a new chapter alert on this story I'm following, but still, 44 FAVES, FOLLOWS, AND REVIEWS FOR FATE AND POWERLESS GUARDIAN.**

**Speaking of Powerless Guardian, Fate seems to be the more popular one out of the two, which is why I'm updating it first (You Fate followers are lucky that I wasn't in an evil mood today, or else Powerless Guardian would've been purposely updated first. And I'm usually in an evil mood). I'll try and update my other fanfic tomorrow, or maybe later tonight, if I rush and it somehow turns out at least semi-decent.**

**Review! It'd be nice to earn more reviews than on the first chapter. :D RANT IS NOW OFFICIALLY OVER.**


	3. Attack

**A lot of you guys asked me why none of the other Guardians went with Jack, and hopefully I can explain the reason in this chapter.**

**Disclaimer. I'm sure nobody thinks that I own Rise of the Guardians.**

Tony was, to be honest, surprised. "None of you are going with him?"

"No. I still have presents to make for Christmas," North told him.

"I have fairies and teeth to watch over," Tooth piped up.

Sandy created a sand image of sleeping children.

Tony turned to Bunnymund. "And you? Easter is months away."

"I didn't wanna be stuck with Frostbite alone," the rabbit deadpanned.

Tony shot him a look before turning back to the others. "So let me get this straight... All of you are putting your own priorities before Jack's safety?"

"Eh, Jack will be fine," North waved him off. "All of us have confidence in him. He managed to stand himself against Pitch alone. And Winter, having been cooped up inside palace for 300 years, needs time to get those winter powers of his up and running again."

"For the sake of history, North, I hope you're right."

* * *

Jack almost laughed in nostalgia once he got a clear view of his surroundings. He was at the entrance to a village; the same village he had lived in when he was human. Everything, from the bakery to the cottages, looked so ancient now. And for the first time ever, Jack acknowledged just how much had changed in 300 years.

A hyper little boy suddenly came running by, shouting and laughing excitedly. He ran right past Jack – right through him. Jack shuddered at the hollow feeling that he hadn't felt for the past 8 months. He could never get used to that...

_Come on, Jack, it's time to focus_, he reprimanded himself sternly. _There's a spiritual lunatic out to get you, and you're just standing here, zoning out about barely anything._

"Stephen, wait up!" a young girl's laugh reached Jack's ears, causing the spirit to freeze in his place. Pippa Frost came into view, smiling a great, big smile, running after Stephen. Jack really couldn't help himself from doing what he did next. He constructed a small snowflake in his hand and let it fly after Pippa. It landed softly on her nose, and she momentarily stopped, confused at why she felt snow when it currently wasn't snowing.

Smiling softly, Jack waved his staff, signaling a small snowfall to appear. Pippa, recovering from her bafflement, laughed and called out to Stephen again, "It's snowing!"

Jack had a vague memory on who exactly Stephen was, but he was pretty sure he had met the boy at least once before he died.

"Hey, Pippa! Mom wants us home!" a familiar third voice was heard.

Figures. Jack breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his past self run past him and scoop Pippa up in his arms. Turns out Old Man Winter hasn't gotten to him yet. Now all Jack needed to do was keep an eye on his human self, and Winter won't get to him.

Jack knew Winter would be rusty from being out of the game for 300 years; he gained enough experience as a fellow winter spirit to realize that, which was why he didn't question the other Guardians for not coming with him.

Jack knew he was on serious business at the moment, but he couldn't help but stare at human Jack. This was him. The boy he was before he drowned. It felt so...odd to see himself holding his sister when she couldn't even see him as an immortal.

Chocolatey brown eyes met icy blue ones. Human Jack was staring directly at him. Jack couldn't move. Could his past self see him? It couldn't be, right? Maybe he was staring at something behind him? Jack couldn't get rid of his shock. What would happen if the past self found out about the present self?

A small smile reached human Jack's lips and he carried his sister home. Both siblings waved goodbye at Stephen – well, Pippa was shouting goodbyes.

Jack was glad that he was alone, because he couldn't mask the relief that made his way onto his face; he would've looked like a fool with that expression on his face. Human Jack must've been looking at something else after all.

He snapped out of his thoughts, realizing that his human self had went out of sight. He quickly flew after him.

* * *

Jack sat on the roof of the small cottage he had once resided in 300 years ago. He was directly above the only window, and every few minutes he checked the happy, human family that were inside. Human Jack was playing with Pippa, while his father was talking to his mother about something he couldn't care less about, whether mortal or immortal. When Jack wasn't checking on the family of four, he was scanning the entire area for Winter.

Jack sighed. He still found it hard to imagine that he had a family once. Sure, the other Guardians were his family now, but to actually have a biological family...

Human Jack suddenly stood up, said something to his parents, took the staff that was leaning against the wall, and left the house. Jack instinctively got up to follow him.

Apparently, human Jack had went off to tend sheep. Immortal Jack just stood off at a distance, continuing to keep watch. He couldn't help but think how dull this was; his past self was just living what used to be his everyday life, and his current self was just doing his best to protect him from a cranky, old winter spirit.

Jack was so occupied in spacing out, he didn't notice a certain Old Man Winter hiding behind a nearby tree.

Winter had noticed Jack hovering near his human self. "So, he's followed me," he sneered quietly to himself. "Does he truly have Guardian potential? He can't even sense that I'm close by." He whipped out a long, glacial sword. "No matter. He won't even exist once I'm done dealing with his past human self."

Human Jack didn't know what hit him. One moment he was grazing sheep, and he was suddenly pinned down by an unknown force the next. A huge sword made entirely out of ice was waving in front of his eyes in midair.

"You didn't really think that you could just take my job away from me, did you?" a voice coated with raw malice suddenly reached his ears. For a brief moment, he could see the faint outline of a man wielding the giant dagger.

The sword reached up and aimed directly for Jack's heart. He closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable end. However, it never came. He opened his eyes just a tiny bit just in time to see something ice-blast that invisible sword holder to the side.

Jack's eyes opened wider, and that boy – the boy he had saw earlier – suddenly appeared. He pulled Jack up to his feet and he faced his attacker – who was not fully visible. He was an old man who definitely looked to be at least 100 years old. He wore a thick, white winter coat over his entire body.

"What do you want, Winter?" the white-haired boy drawled out in a threatening tone. "What does my past self have anything to do with you?"

Jack's eyes widened. _Past self? What?_

The man, or Winter, growled in response and grabbed the sword again, which he had dropped off to the side when he was knocked out of the way. "What I want? I want you to _die_, Jack Frost."

He charged at both boys – or, more specifically, at the human – so immortal Jack did the first thing he could think of. And what he thought of wasn't something sensible at all – it was the craziest thing to choose to do. He took some more dust out of the sack Father Time had given him, and created a portal that led back to the present time. He took his human self's arm and dragged him into it, and he managed to close it just before Winter could swing at them.

**...This came out a lot later than I wanted it to. Hopefully I'll be able to put the next chapter up faster. And this chapter was not long. It wasn't short, but it wasn't long.**

_**Now **_**do you see why I didn't make the other Guardians come with Jack? Bet you didn't see that coming, did ya? ;P**

**I'm going on vacation for the next three days (Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon) so I wanted to update this one before I go. And like I said, I'll try to update faster next time.**

**Wow. For once, my Boba-rant isn't that long! I applaud myself. :D Please review!**


	4. Explanation

**Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the Guardians.**

Tony had borrowed one of North's snow globes in order to watch over Jack while he was still in the 1700's. And when he saw Jack do what he did, he dropped the globe, and it shattered when it hit the wooden floor.

North looked at his broken belonging wearily. "You know you will have to replace that, right, Tony?"

Ignoring him, Tony was wide-eyed, staring at nothing. "That... That little..."

A portal suddenly appeared, and out came Jack, who was holding a very stunned human Jack's arm in a tight grasp.

Bunnymund, Tooth, and Sandy had eventually decided to stay in North's workshop after all, and every member of the Big Four was shocked to see two Jacks – one immortal, and one not – standing side by side.

"Are you _insane_?!" Tony exploded at the young spirit. "Do you realize what you did?! You just changed things for the worse!"

"Winter was coming right at us and I wasn't thinking straight, okay!" Jack yelled. "Look, I know what I did was wrong, but it was the first thing I thought of doing!"

"You just messed up history! We were all depending on you to keep the chronology the same, not create a whole new one!"

"But I couldn't just let Winter win! This was the only other option!"

"But–"

"ENOUGH!"

Both Jack and Tony turned at the sound of the third voice, which happened to belong to none other than Jack's human self. The mortal was rubbing his temples as if he had a severe migraine, with teeth gritted and eyes squeezed shut. This just had to be some crazy dream, right? He opened his eyes, and much to his dismay, that freaky weirdo in a bathrobe and that even freakier weirdo who looked exactly like him were still there, along with this overgrown rabbit, a girl who looked like she was half-hummingbird, an old geezer who looked like Santa with tattoos, and this little chubby guy whose body was entirely golden.

"What the heck is going on here?! One moment, I'm doing my job as a shepherd, and another moment, this old guy comes along and tries to kill me. _And then_ this guy–" he pointed at the white-haired version of him. "–suddenly appears and drags me here! And I don't even know where I am right now! All I know is that I'm surrounded by a bunch of freaks who talk about me as if I'm not in the room!"

After that long spiel, there was silence.

"Okay," the guy who looked like him finally said. "Here's the short version: You die, I'm born, Winter gains this weird problem with me, and goes back in time to kill you to prevent everything I listed above from happening."

"What?!" Jack asked, perplexed.

"I've said enough. Sandy, knock him out!"

The little golden man, or Sandy, formed a ball made entirely out of sand about the size of a baseball. Not knowing what was going on, mortal Jack took a few steps back. "I still don't know what's going on here...but I'm not staying to find out."

He ran out of the workshop and into the factory, and he almost stopped at the unbelievable sight of multiple yetis and elves. _Oh, great_, he mentally groaned. _More freaks of nature._

Suddenly remembering his apparent kidnappers, he continued fleeing. He ran down the corridors and into a random room. He paused briefly when he noticed the various boxes of presents stacked on top of each other by the walls. Quickly deciding that it was at least safer than that freak show of six back there, he quickly hid behind one particular stack of gifts.

Back at the workshop, Bunnymund remarked flatly, "That went well. First, you dragged your poor past self here, and now, he's scared of us and has run off somewhere. What do we do now?"

Glaring at Bunnymund, Jack asked Tony, "What's the big deal if I bring him here anyway? I know it'll make things more complicated, but I'm still here, aren't I? That means things will get back to normal, right?"

"Yes, but we're on the borderline of changing history now. We can't alter it any more than it has been. One wrong move, and everything will change."

"Then we need to find him. Jack, if you were him–" North was interrupted.

"I _am_ him."

"Not my point. Where would you hide if you were in his position?"

"I would just run into whatever room seems secure and safe," was Jack's dull, not-so-helpful reply.

Bunnymund rolled his eyes. "Well, that's helpful."

Jack gave him a look for a moment, before saying, "Whatever. I really don't think he would be hiding out in the factory since there are a bunch of freakish yetis and elves out there, so he has to be in a smaller room. I'll just check each one and try to find him. By myself, 'cause he would probably listen more if not all of us were there to make him jump out of his pants."

Tooth seemed skeptical. "Are you sure, Jack?"

"I think I'm capable of handling myself," Jack replied wryly. "Be right back."

He walked briskly out of the room, and immediately headed straight for the room right next door. He checked the entire square capacity thoroughly, but there was no sign of another living, breathing presence in there. He did this for the next room, and the next, and the next, but the searchings all produced the same results of blankness. Jack sighed. He had underestimated his own hiding skills; how sad was that? He needed to find his human self soon, or Winter was undoubtedly going to break in and find him first and, as Father Time put it, "create a whole new chronology."

His distressed thoughts were interrupted when he heard a familiar questioning garble. He turned his head to the side to see one of North's yeti workers. "Oh, hey Phil," he greeted absentmindedly.

Phil seemed to have a good idea on the reason of Jack's poorly hidden distracted attitude, 'cause he grumbled something in gibberish and pointed to a room four doors away. Although Jack normally couldn't understand that wretched yeti language at all, he caught on to what Phil was saying this time, as the body language gave it all away. He grinned gratefully at him. "Thanks, pal. I owe you one." Phil nodded, as if saying, "Don't mention it."

He hurried to the door the yeti had acknowledged, and he noticed that the door wasn't completely closed, as if someone had been in a rush and wasn't careful enough to shut it all the way. To Jack, that was evidence that who he was looking for was in there, because if there was one thing he noticed about North's factory, it was that the doors were always either wide open or shut tightly, so others would know whether a yeti was in there working on a toy and needed not to be disturbed. Jack dearly hoped that it wasn't just one of the elves being forgetful enough to leave the door halfway open like it currently was, because he was on the brink of desperation. He took a deep breath and opened the door, and immediately saw how boxes of presents were all neatly stacked on top of each other in a corner of the room. He inspected them suspiciously, and he had to hold back a sigh of relief when he noticed an almost inconspicuous piece of brown leather cloth sticking out from behind that he would not have noticed if he hadn't been paying his closest attention. He quietly tiptoed over to the stacks, cautious to not let his human self know that he had found him and was about to nab him. Once he was close enough, he snatched the edge of the cloth at lightning speed. In short, human Jack panicked and started freaking out.

"Let go of me!" he shouted, starting to flail.

"Hey!" Immortal Jack yelled back, noticing that his human self's thrashing had resulted in the toppling of several gift boxes. "Calm down or you're gonna wreck something!" Those words provided little comfort, so he added, "I'm not here to hurt you! I swear!"

That seemed to calm human Jack down significantly, though he seemed reluctant to stop writhing. Immortal Jack, still not satisfied, jerked sharply on human Jack's cloak. Human Jack became still.

"Thank you," Jack sighed. "Look, you're gonna have to go back there."

Human Jack's eyes widened, and his momentary coolness dissipated once again into agitation. However, he didn't start tossing and turning again; he simply freed himself from the winter spirit's grip, as it had loosened after his behavior had become mild. "I'd rather have one of those freakish monster things carrying toys stomp on me than go back!"

"Oh my god, what's so bad about them?! They're not bad people!" Immortal Jack threw his arms up into the air frustratedly.

"Yeah, well why don't you try standing in my place for a second?! You dragged me here without any of my consent, and I still don't know what's going on here! Would you mind explaining to me what is going on?! And I don't wanna hear anything vague like what you told me back there!"

Immortal Jack fell silent, and human Jack was almost afraid that the way he had worded his outburst had lost all his chances to get real answers from anyone. That fear dissolved after the white-haired boy said quietly, "Okay. I'll tell you. I don't think Tony will be happy about it, but I guess I don't really have a choice."

Human Jack kept mute, which the immortal took as encouragement to continue. "First things first. All those other guys back there... They're Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and the Sandman. Oh, and the guy who was yelling at me was Father Time."

Human Jack crossed his arms and maintained an expressionless face, leaving no indication whether or not he believed his future self.

"And I'm Jack Frost, the Spirit of Winter. And all of us, excluding Father Time, are the Guardians of Childhood. What I told you back there was true. You..." Jack struggled, not knowing how to deliver the right words without giving away too much risky information. "You...died." _Smooth, Jack._

"Yeah, you told me I died back there," human Jack deadpanned. "What I want to know is how I died."

"Sorry, that snippet of info has to be kept strictly confidential," Jack replied, internally praying that his human self would understand. "You'll know once it happens. And it has to happen, or else I wouldn't exist."

Human Jack nodded slightly, and beckoned for continuation.

"Okay, long story short, after you died, I was born as a reincarnation of you." Jack decided it best that his past self didn't know about his 300-year-long amnesia. "We're in the year of 2012, and it's currently December, just so you know. And..." He gulped. "That old guy who tried to murder you back there was Old Man Winter. He's another winter spirit like me. He has this grudge against me, and even I don't know what that's all about, but no matter what his reasons are, he hates me enough to steal Father Time's time traveling dust and go back to 1712 and kill you so I never would've existed."

"Wait, wait," human Jack cut him off. "You said that you're my second life after I died. If this Old Man Winter guy kills me, won't I be reincarnated anyway?"

Jack avoided his gaze. "The reason why I was born again had something to do with how I died. I wasn't chosen out of everyone else in the world for no reason, you know."

Human Jack frowned. "Are you sure you can't tell me what happened?"

"Positive. Anyway, I went after him after Father Time told us what happened. I'm not sure on why the others didn't come with me, but whatever. Anyway, we both found you, he attacked you, and I saved you. You're welcome," he couldn't help but add that last part in.

Human Jack finally let his arms fall to his sides with a small sigh. "I normally would think first before believing a crazy story like that, but after experiencing what just happened in the past twenty minutes, I'm starting to think that literally anything's possible. I'll take your word for it."

"Good, 'cause I don't know what I could've done to convince you that I'm not lying if you didn't believe me. You wanna head back now?"

His human self let him lead the way, this time with no further objections.

**I know at least one of you is disappointed at how I didn't make present Jack disappear because of the time loop. You guys just have to trust me when I say that things will get more exciting. I promise that. Really, I'm not just saying that so you guys will keep following this story. XD**

**Okay, so one reviewer questioned that Winter wasn't thinking straight and that Jack would be resurrected anyway even if he does get killed by that crazy spirit. In case it wasn't clear when human Jack asked about it in the chapter, Jack was brought back to life because he saved his sister, therefore committing a heroic sacrifice. If Winter kills him, that wouldn't be too heroic nor sacrificial, would it?**

**Also, 110 FOLLOWERS?! HOLY CRAP WHAT NOW BRAIN IS MALFUNCTIONING HOW DID THIS GET SO MANY FOLLOWERS WITH SO FEW CHAPTERS**

**Okay, I'm done freaking out. Review!**


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